T here are generally two main elements to a criminal case, the act that triggered the charges, and the judicial resolution.

The latter is the most important, not for its capacity to ascertain the truth, but for its potential to disrupt and cause great and sometimes irreversible harm to a person's life. This is why ensuring that our justice system is peopled by individuals of the strongest ethical spine is one of the most important responsibilities of a community.

As such we should all be concerned about the recent adjudication of the commonwealth's case against Nigel Edwards, a 22-year-old black college student without a criminal record.

The family said the FBI has expressed an interest in the case, and I hope that is true, because it is a case that deserves an independent review.

Mr. Edwards was arrested outside the Emperors Gentlemen's Club on May 5, 2013, by Worcester Police Officer Joseph Vigliotti and charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and assault. The young man claimed he was racially profiled, falsely arrested and beaten by the police officer.

However, his ability to press his case in court was significantly impaired when potential video evidence captured by the club's security system disappeared from the police evidence room.

The disappearance of the evidence is made more puzzling by how it unfolded. The club gave the video to Officer Vigliotti within three days of the incident, but Mr. Edwards' lawyer was not made aware of this transfer until July 30. Two days later, the DA's office reported the evidence missing.

Police Chief Gary Gemme, who said the DA's office had access to the evidence room, attempted to interview the prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Paul Healy, but was prevented from doing so by District Attorney Joseph Early, who said such an interview would establish a dangerous precedent in the operation of his office.

It seems to me, however, that the investigation into the missing evidence should trump whatever danger it posed to the DA's office. It is unfair and unjust to have Mr. Edwards bear the burden of the negligence that seemed to have occurred in this case.

This burden was made worse by the DA denying Mr. Edwards' motion to dismiss all the charges as a result of the missing evidence. Rather than an outright dismissal, the prosecutor offered Mr. Edwards pretrial probation, in which all charges would be dropped in nine months. The offer, according to Mr. Edwards, was predicated on him signing an agreement not to sue Officer Vigliotti or the city.

Mr. Early denied the allegation, noting that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Vigliotti separately agreed to the release agreement, which was drawn up by Mr. Vigliotti's brother, a local lawyer.

Yet, Mr. Early acknowledged that his office was aware that the two parties were fashioning the agreement, and it is clear that the Edwards family was convinced that signing the agreement was conditional to securing the pretrial probation.

"It was quid pro quo," Mr. Edwards' mother, Roberta Powell, said.

Amelia Joseph, a public defense lawyer in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and an aunt to Mr. Edwards, noted that the agreement was not presented to the judge for approval and therefore might be unenforceable.

Whether that is true or not, one can't deny that any arrangement in which a private lawyer can use the DA's office as a threat to deny a person his civil rights can only cast a chilling impact on the search for justice.

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